The use of structural laminates for hockey dasherboard systems is well known. Everyone who has seen a hockey game in person or on television can recognize that hockey dasherboards have to be able to withstand body checks, pucks flying and thousands of impacts over the course of the dasherboard systems life span while keeping the players and the puck inside the rink. It is, therefore, logical that a hockey dasherboard system must be made of strong materials, yet lightweight enough to be removed in between hockey games.
Typical dasherboard structural laminates work very well for use with indoor hockey rinks. However, Southern and Southwestern states do not have year-round hockey rinks as do some Northern states, making it difficult for players to maintain hockey playing condition throughout the year. The trend in the Southern and Southwestern states is to play hockey outdoors. With the advent of in-line roller skates, outdoor hockey has become a significant trend with intramural leagues and other playing leagues sprouting up and becoming very popular. Outdoor hockey rinks typically do not have protection from the elements, such as sun, heat, wind, and rain. For this reason, typical hockey dasherboards do not work well under the unrelenting sunshine and soaring temperatures and humidity that are typical of most Southern and Southwestern states. Typical hockey dasherboards stop functioning and tend to degrade over time when exposed to such extreme elements and, in some instances, begin to melt. This is, of course, extremely dangerous not only for the outdoor hockey players but the spectators of such events.